NEWS

After years of doing The Memory Palace as odd little passion/art project (which came after at least a couple of years of trying and failing to make it pay), I’m now making a go of doing these idiosyncratic, tiny history stories as my job. And it’s a weird job. And I’m delighted to find myself in the position to do it.

Here’s the thing: I’m in that position because of listeners like you. People who heard the Memory Palace and told people to listen.

So, if you’ve enjoyed the show over the years, if you’ve been here from the beginning, if you just heard it for the first time last week–do me a favor. Do the show a favor. Tell someone about the podcast. Send your best friend a link to the best episode. Tweet about it. Share it on Facebook. Take out a full-page ad in a Major Metropolitan newspaper. Skywriting is also a good move for summer.

But, if the Memory Palace has moved your or entertained you or ever made a day better, let someone know.

I started the Memory Palace in late 2008. Years ago. I spent the first few years trying to find a way to make it fit into public radio. I’d worked for Marketplace. I’d worked for NPR. I’d worked at local stations. I was good at those jobs. I hoped that I could turn The Memory Palace into one of those hour-long, weekend shows that could slide in between This American Life and hour fourteen of A Prairie Home Companion. That didn’t happen. I thought maybe it could air as a regular segment on an existing radio show. I thought maybe it could have it’s own little slot after a news cast once a week like some other tiny shows. Those didn’t happened. And after awhile, I gave up. On assuming I could make a living doing it. Not on the podcast. I loved the podcast. And, after I stopped trying to make it fit into a public-radio-shaped hole, it started to get better. It got more idiosyncratic. It got more me. And people seemed to like it.

In the meantime, it opened up other professional doors. So the podcast was both passion project and calling card. It was cool. It wasn’t my job. But it was cool. For a couple of years, it was a part of the Maximum Fun network and supported through donations and that helped keep things going, helped ensure that I could justify making time for it while I juggled other projects.

Then people started listening to podcasts. Then Serial came along and people figured out what that purple button was on their iPhones. Then there were all those “Like Serial? Try this…” articles and I was lucky enough to have the Memory Palace pop up now and then. There were suddenly a lot of people listening. It became clear, very quickly that the business was changing incredibly fast (like, it was suddenly an actual business) and, if I could find away to pull it off, I could stop juggling. I could do The Memory Palace as a full-time proposition and maybe, just maybe make a living doing it.

So I talked to everyone. Every remotely appropriate network. Every ad-sales specialist. I weighed every option. I explored staying independent. And I ended up at Radiotopia. I’m delighted that I have.

Radiotopia is a collective of many of the very best audio storytellers in the English-speaking world. That’s not promo-copy hyperbole. It is an All-Star team. I’m straight-up honored to be in their company.

And you should be too. Go to Radiotopia.fm. Listen. Your next favorite show is right there, waiting for you to find it.